A Story about a Defective Signature Platinum
Last week I was listening to music at a healthy volume while sitting at my computer. I have an auto lifter (Little Fwend) and after the arm lifted I noticed a static noise with occasional popping coming out of the left channel about 40 dB down. At first I thought it was a bad tube but it disappeared when I turned the volume down. It is in front of the Preamp. None of the other sources had the noise. Swapping tonearm cables did not seem to change the sound but then I noticed that the sound was also in the right channel just farther down. Disconnecting the tonearm stopped the noise. I change over to an MC Diamond, no noise. Same with the Atlas, no noise. Swapped back to the MSL, noise is back.
The cartridge is exactly one year old but it rotates with two other cartridges and might have 75 hours on it. I called the dealer who told me to contact MoFi distribution, the US agent for MSL. Turns out the cartridge only has a 90 day warranty and I was told I would have to send it in for a rebuild for $6000! Can't they just fix the problem for maybe $500, No. Can't I just send it in for evaluation? The stylus and cantilever are brand new. No, a rebuild is the only option and you have to do that through the dealer, click! Most very expensive cartridges have a 2 year warranty on them not to mention that most companies would cover such a defect even off warranty as in the absence of physical damage it is obviously a manufacturing defect, a bad solder joint or maybe just two wires rubbing together. This is very disappointing and as far as customer service goes Home Depot is better than MoFi, Sears is better than MoFi! MoFI is right up there with Anthem Blue Cross! The service rep could have offered to look into it. Maybe communicate with MSL and get their opinion. I am sure if MSL knew about it they would gladly fix it and actually be embarrassed. The Japanese are like that. There is no way I can find to get directly in touch with MSL.
$6000 is not an option. I am not going to throw good money after bad. I am also not going to off a defective cartridge on someone else. I am going to take the cartridge apart and reflow the solder joints and make sure the wires are separated. If that doesn't fix it, it goes in the trash.
Mistakes and defects happen, it is what you do about them that counts. MoFi failed dismally in this regard. MSL makes a fine cartridge but I would only get another one if they changed agents and increased their warranty. Obviously, I will avoid buying any other MoFi products myself and warn others about their customer service. I have no further use for the dealer who did nothing to help. I have had superb service from Musical Surroundings, Soundsmith, B+H Photo and the Cable Company. All handled issues with ease. Has anyone else had trouble with MoFi? What companies have provided you with excellent service when the sh-t hit the fan?
A few years back, there was an ’American importer’ who was importing a cartridge from Japan, which was readily available over there, and adding close to five thousand percent mark-up for the uninitiated in the US. Interestingly, this chap was not that successful because he had underestimated the fact that a lot of his ’marks’ were going to be able to easily shop this cartridge pricing via the internet. Nonetheless, I understand that he made enough sales to be still considered as the ’go to’ dealer for this brand in the US. I happen to know of a fellow who was ’suckered’ in by this guy, to say that once he became aware of the ’markup’ that he was far from happy would be an understatement...to say the least! As for warranty, well as far as I now, it has not been needed, but the warranty from this ’importer’...also 90 days! Folks, like the OP is saying, one needs to do a little homework on these cartridges and their 'importers' before pulling the trigger on a sale. |
@daveyf are you referencing the Shelter 501 / "Crown Jewel" debacle, or something else? I've definitely been of the opinion that the high markups on distributor-imported Japanese cartridges are an extremely shaky value proposition, at best. When you can get the cart at half price or even less, and you set it up yourself, what is the value in service & warranty - even a GOOD warranty (which is not what you get with MD)? The topic of this thread just further solidifies my outlook. |
I have had discussions over the years with a selection of Third Party Services, where my inquiries are initially about the Parts that can be made available to be used on a Cart' to undergo a full refurbishment. Additionally, I have made inquiries to discover what is on offer as part of the service to be provided. I have distinct recollections of the costs for the service, to include a thorough cleaning, an inspection at a set fee, parts and a optimisation of the internal parts. I can't but help sense VAS NY Inc supplied all of this minus any replacement parts. The cost certainly suggest there has been more occur that just a mere reconnection of a wire to a lead out pin. I suggest prior to the working on the wire, there was approx' $80ish dollars tied up in cleaning and inspection, I would be shocked if the Soldering alone cost close to $220. The VAS NY Inc description does not seem to differ in any way too much from what I am already familiar with. " Additionally, we can perform custom modifications including switching styli, upgrading to mono use, cartridge cleaning, and coil demagnetizing. Cartridge inspection is FREE. All we ask is $45 to cover for any shipping charges if you do not want a repair. We will carefully inspect each cartridge that comes in and recommend the best option to you. Once the inspection is complete, we will call or email you about the details of repair and cost. The usual timeframe is between 4 to 8 weeks but it may be longer or shorter depending on the amount damage to the cartridge and queue of other cartridges waiting. "
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